Russel Hobbs
Russel Hobbs (also known as Russ) is the official drummer of Gorillaz. Background Russel was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 3, 1975. Known for his good manners and eloquent speech, he attended the Xavier School For Young Achievers, but was expelled after attacking several students while possessed by a demon. He fell into a coma for the next four years, at the end of which, the demon was finally exorcised from his body by a priest named Father Merrin. After his old school refused to take him back, Russel attended Brooklyn High School, where he befriended many of the students that were gifted in hip-hop music. One rainy night outside a 7-Eleven Store, Russel's companions were killed in a drive by shooting by a gang of "gang bangers" driving a black Humvee. They were all wearing red hooded tops. One of them was wearing a black hood who Russel identified as The Grim Reaper. After the shooting, the spirits of Russel's friends came to reside in his body, the most prominent being Russel's best friend Del tha Ghost Rapper. After the drive by shooting incident, Russel was sent to the UK for his own safety to live with his uncle in Belsize Park. He got a job working behind the counter at Big Rick Black's Record Shack in London's Soho area. That's when he first encountered Murdoc Niccals. While asking Russel for an obscure 50s record, Murdoc slipped a bag over Russel's head and forced him out of the shop. Russel was taken back to Kong Studios and was impressed with the music that Murdoc was working on, so he chose to stay. Russel is based on Jamie Hewlett's love of Hip-hop, in particular, he is loosely based on Ice Cube, who is coincidentally the real-life cousin of Del The Funky Homosapien. Hewlett says "Russel is based on my love of hip hop. Somebody like an Ice Cube, I guess."https://www.franceinter.fr/emissions/popopop/popopop-15-novembre-2017 The idea of Russel having the spirit of rappers such as Del reside inside of him is what inspired the usage of collaborators in all Gorillaz albums from then onwards. "That was a key moment." Albarn says, "Once we started thinking like that, the idea of 'We can work with whoever we like' kind of evolved." https://youtu.be/WKMIv__EgUA?t=279 Gorillaz Phase 1: 1998-2001 A hip-hop hard man from Brooklyn, New York, Russel draws upon spooky spirit mates to help guide his beats. The spirits that live within Russel's hulking frame pop out every so often to provide some undead rapping. Russel himself is well adjusted, with an enviable wardrobe. Very polite, educated and is a great musician. Without Russel, Gorillaz couldn't survive: he's the safety net, the linebacker and the true defender. People love his solid safety and his solid credentials. Multiple trainer owner and has a vast appetite. Post-Phase 1 to Pre-Phase 2: 2002-2004 After multiple failed attempts to make a Gorillaz movie (due to drunk writers and directors and the band getting in trouble for multiple reasons) the band decided to break up and go their separate ways. 2-D got to work at his father's fair ground, Noodle went back to Japan to learn more about her dark past and Murdoc got himself arrested in Tijuana, Mexico for giving fake checks to prostitutes at a local brothel. As for Russel, things went downhill for a long time for the drummer. The soul of his friend Del was ripped out of his body by Death which led to a huge breakdown. He secluded himself in Ike Turner's basement to write his own album, but was plagued by hallucinations of demons flying out of the speakers. He never finished the album. Russel got a call from Noodle, now a teenager who was back at Kong Studios and finished writing the music for Demon Days, and needed Russel for the drums again. Gorillaz Phase 2: 2005-2008 After the El Mañana incident involving Noodle's windmill island getting gunned down by helicopters, Russel and 2-D were panic stricken when they thought Noodle was killed (although she wasn't). Russel never appeared at the Apollo Theater in New York City, for he was off on another life journey to deal with his demons. After 2-D left Kong, leaving Murdoc to do shady businesses with a band of mercenaries and pirates called the Black Clouds and with Noodle nowhere in sight, the band ended again. But not for long. Murdoc, having kidnapped 2-D and constructed a cyborg replica of Noodle was searching for Russel to make his new album, Plastic Beach (named after the pink island of garbage in the ocean) but he couldn't find him, so instead Murdoc used a drum machine to record the drum parts. Gorillaz Phase 3: 2010-2012 In 2010, Russel embarked on a journey to an unknown destination by diving off of a dock and into the Pacific Ocean. Before he left, he wrote what appeared to be a suicide note, reading... "This is it. The time has come. The demons have chased me down and now forced my heavyweight hip hop hand. I need to get there. The expanse, the calm of the eternal briny deep. The Ocean. . The ..Ocean..b.bacon. So this is it......Throw myself into the sea.” '' ''x Russel Hobbs During his trek, Russel ate some radioactive, contaminated fish which resulted in a massive increase in Russel's body mass. He was last seen swimming near the wreckage of the M. Harriet where he was reunited with Noodle, his former band mate and long time friend. Later, after reaching the island (being bombarded by Black Clouds), Russel tossed the whale guarding 2-D at one of the pirates' planes. He was present when Murdoc escaped Plastic Beach to Hawaii after the island was destroyed. It turned out Murdoc wasn't living in Hawaii at all, but in a shambled house in London with a Hawaii themed room. Russel was seen reclining on the roof of the house at the end of the "DoYaThing" video. The house the band lived in was being foreclosed so the fate of the band was unknown. Gorillaz Phase 4: 2016-2017 '' album cover.]] After being attacked by pirates on Plastic Beach, Russel put Noodle inside his mouth and swam away. Somewhere off the coast of Japan, Russel was mistaken for a whale and harpooned. He managed to wiggle free, but Noodle was swept into the blood-red waters in the process. Wounded and delirious, he struggled on through the ocean, eventually losing consciousness. Eventually, he drifted into the warm waters of the Yellow Sea, and washed up on a North Korean beach. He was carted to Pyongyang, where he was exhibited inside a giant glass cage. The regime's leader declared he had captured Pulgasari, the legendary North Korean Godzilla. Russel became the country's greatest attraction. In time, the North's meagre food rations caused Russel to shrink back to normal size. Realizing he was just a man, the Glorious Leader proclaimed that he had defeated Pulgasari, and Russel was released and sent back to England, where he wandered the streets of London, until musician and Gorillaz collaborator Jeff Wootton let him crash on his futon. A few days later, Jeff received a call from Murdoc. Without delay, Russel moved into Murdoc's new West London home and the band got back together. In the music video for Saturnz Barz, the paranormal entities of the Spirit House are awoken as Russel tries to go to sleep after briefly attempting to look around in the house. At the end of the video, after they go back in the car Murdoc asks the band if they want breakfast, Russel says "Oh yeah. I got a real appetite.". In the Strobelite video, Russel is asleep on the couch at the party. Originally, the Strobelite video was to feature character banter and a boxing match between Russel and his voice actor Remi Kabaka, but it did not make it to the final version of the video. Russel makes a brief off screen appearance for a phone call in 2D & Murdoc's interview with Mistajam. In the interview, he talks about the collaborations on Humanz and talks about the reasons they have so many collaborations on their albums. At one point in the phone call, Murdoc says "Russel, you gotta tell him about about a problem you had with Remi, our producer.", implying there was a conflict between Remi and Russel. Russel is very paranoid in the phone call and asks 2D and Murdoc if they're copying them and accuses them of leaving him in Brooklyn. Towards the end of the phone call Russel becomes overwhelmed and abruptly ends the call. Gorillaz Phase 5: 2018-Present At the end of phase 4, Russel started his own podcast called "Things I Like" in which he interviewed Gorillaz collaborators such as Posdnuos from De La Soul, Jenny Beth, Little Simz, Pauline Black, Peven Everett, Cheick Tidiane Seck, and Gorillaz' live drummer Gabriel Wallace. In phase 5, Russel appears to have lost some weight, as acknowledged by Remi Kabaka in an interview. Russel is often shown wearing hoodies and jackets in phase 5, with few instances of him wearing t-shirts (such as the Tranz and Humility music videos) as he usually does. In the music video for Humility, he trips 2D while he's roller skating. His voice actor Remi Kabaka, in live-action, makes a cameo appearance in the video, playing chess with Noodle. He is shown frequently in the Tranz video, happily drumming on a drum kit and performing the song with the rest of the band with a large smile on his face. He is shown playing a small guitar with the rest of the band in album artwork for The Now Now, presumably depicting a performance of Idaho. This the one of the only times Russel has been depicted in Gorillaz artwork as playing any instruments besides drums or percussion based instruments at all, let alone a guitar. In the G-Shock Ad, Russel is the one drives the vehicle that takes the band into outer space. Trivia *Russel's name may have drawn inspiration from of may be a reference to the British household appliance manufacturer, Russell Hobbs, seeing as their names are very similar, down to a single letter. Gallery Category:Gorillaz Member Category:Male Characters Category:Russel Images Category:Characters Category:Phase 1 Characters Category:Phase 2 Characters Category:Demon Days Characters Category:Plastic Beach Characters Category:Phase 4 Characters Category:Phase 1 Category:Phase 2 Category:Phase 3 Category:Phase 4 Category:Phase 3 Characters Category:Gorillaz Category:Phase 5 Category:Phase 5 Characters Category:American Characters Category:Musicians Category:Active Members Category:The Now Now Characters Category:Russel Hobbs Category:Human Characters